WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Arsène
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ How an A-Rank Hunter Lives ◈
Chapter 72: Spatial Ability User Kim Geuk - [1]
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It had been a while since I watched one of Kang Jun-chi's “teach them a lesson” videos, and I noticed one difference from usual.
“Teaching Trash Cops Who Take Bribes a Lesson”
Kang Jun-chi's video, titled as above, contained exactly what its title promised.
In the video... a police officer conducting a drunk-driving checkpoint took a fifty-thousand-won bill and was about to let the driver go.
Unfortunately for them, they paid the price for being spotted by Kang Jun-chi.
“You fucking sea roaches, are you kidding me?!”
Shouting as he charged forward, Kang Jun-chi immediately lifted both the driver and the officer into the air.
Then he taught them a lesson by ripping out every hair on their heads as they flailed in panic, tearing off all their clothes, and even pulling out their fingernails and toenails.
It sounded no different from what he usually did, but it was.
The fact that Kang Jun-chi's target this time was a police officer in uniform caught my attention.
Kang Jun-chi did not grab just anyone and torment them. In his own way, he chose his targets.
As shown by how he had held back even against Han Heeseok, Kang Jun-chi did not fully indulge his sadism when dealing with public officials.
Likewise, he had never messed with police officers before.
He must have restrained himself because he was afraid of the repercussions of targeting the police, yet this video openly targeted one. Why?
Having recently threatened a prison warden myself, I understood the reason for that change.
I had been able to threaten the warden because I had gained a certain kind of confidence.
The confidence that, since I had this much power and influence, it would be fine to cross this particular line.
Kang Jun-chi must have gained that confidence from this incident too. That was why he was finally able to cross a line he had never crossed before.
It was a joyous occasion. Truly.
* * *
Ⓐ BabyBerserker : This is terrible, meow!
It’s terrible because BabyMushroom is too cute!!!
It turns out that a huge crowd of obsessive fans gathered outside BabyMushroom’s home because BabyMushroom is too cute, meow?
It looked like some of Big Sis Kim Seokhee’s fans came too, meow! A few of them kept asking BabyMushroom where Big Sis Kim Seokhee was, but BabyMushroom was too scared to say anything and trembled adorably, meow!
Then, would you believe it, a whole crowd of big sisters and big brothers came to protect BabyMushroom, meow? (The person standing at the front with the Incheon citizens, wearing a beige suit, was City Councilor Park Mihyeong. Everyone who remembers her face, please vote for her in the Incheon mayoral election.)
Finally, when Jun-chi, BabyMushroom’s bodyguard, showed up too, the obsessive fans finally backed off, meow!
To repay everyone who gathered, BabyMushroom decided to hold an idol concert, meow!
To get to the concert hall, everyone split between two buses (City Councilor Park Mihyeong, who will be running as candidate number 2 in the Incheon mayoral election, chartered them. Shouldn’t everyone who rode the buses be grateful?) and crossed the border. Then even the Manticore man and important people came flocking in to see BabyMushroom’s idol concert, meow?
BabyMushroom got so excited by this fervent response that!!!
I had already been something of Huntweb’s fitness idol, but after this incident, I had become something even greater.
Just looking at the number of comments, it was on a completely different scale from before.
Anonymous : Even though you only post shit like this on Huntweb, I still worship you, Kim Geuk.
Ⓐ Dragon : Kim Geuk and Kang Jun-chi really are the hope of Korea’s awakened people.
Ⓐ ElmayaKaeyo : Can you believe all this happened because Kim Geuk was trying to save the life of Kim Seokhee, someone he wasn’t even close to?
5myJesus : Kim Geuk is a god! Kang Jun-chi is a god!
Ⓐ GangStar☆ : Thanks.
Ⓐ GangStar☆ : I clicked this post to say thanks, but I’m not thankful that it made my eyes rot.
As you could see, the comments had gone beyond the usual level of praise for me. It was also worth noting that a high percentage of the commenters had A badges.
Even people with A badges who had never commented on my posts before were leaving comments.
It was not hard to see why so many awakened people had noticed that we had devastated the Special Forces this time and nullified the Special Forces call-up, which had been hated nearly as much as reserve-duty summons.
Ⓐ Stonehead Youth : What the hell? I personally checked how many abilities City Councilor Park Mihyeong had at the scene, and she only had one ice ability... Was the thing that captivated this young man hypnosis rather than brainwashing through an awakened ability?
Ⓐ SoulOfTheKoreanPeopleIsHan : I came to see why there were so many comments, and what is this;;;
After looking through the awakened people commenting on my post, I shut off the computer.
This had certainly been an amazing achievement, something I could brag about as one of my life’s accomplishments for years to come, but it was not like I was going to ride this popularity into politics. Was it?
I had other things to do.
After downing a protein shake blended with all sorts of things, I left home.
* * *
Hunter work was good.
Unlike all those distracting thoughts about non-awakened scum and overthrowing the country, thoughts that had somehow filled my head and seeped into every part of my thinking while making me uneasy about whether any of it was really right, everything about Hunter work was clear.
As an awakened person in Incheon, I had nothing to worry about when hunting Monsters. I just had to kill every Monster that came out of a Gate, then accept the cheers of the Incheon citizens made safe because of it.
Hunting was therefore an unquestionably good thing, and it also proved my value.
When I arrived at the meeting place, my hunter team was waiting for me. I remembered how willingly they had rushed over to protect me this time.
“Thank you so much for what you did! Man, you have no idea how moved I was when I saw my team members come for me...”
Jeong Jinyeong suddenly interrupted me.
“I was even more moved!”
What was with him all of a sudden? As I looked at him, Jinyeong continued.
“It was insanely cool, seriously...!”
Seeing his lips tremble even made me a little uncomfortable. Awakened people had benefited from this incident, not non-awakened Hunters like him, so why was he reacting like this?
After exchanging kind words with Im Hyeongtaek, Seong Munyeong, and the others, I got into the official vehicle.
Once again, I set out to hunt while being seen off by the citizens of Incheon.
On the way to our destination, I spoke to Baek Dambi, who was sitting beside me.
“Did you report to the Association that you can open Gates now?”
“Yes, I did.”
“What did the Association say? Did they offer to raise your signing bonus and deployment pay?”
“No, they haven’t said anything like that. But...”
“But what?”
“They said they would mediate so I could terminate my contract with Incheon City without returning the signing bonus.”
My eyes flew open in shock.
“What do you mean...?”
“They said they wanted me to focus on opening Gates. Since Behemoth moved closer to Seoul this time, the danger has increased. They said they would let me stop hunting so I could focus only on opening Gates and monitoring Behemoth’s condition...”
My ring girl might leave my side? The urge to stop her rose in me, but I could not think of a reason to do so, so I forced myself to ask calmly.
“So what did you say?”
“I said I would continue working as I am. I can open Gates and monitor Behemoth while hunting too...”
You had no idea how relieved I was to hear that.
“So you’ll keep hunting?”
“Yes.”
“That’s unexpected. It would be easier on your body, safer in every way, and better overall if you only opened Gates. Why bother?”
“I don’t intend to quit being a Hunter.”
“Why?”
“I got all of this through Hunter work in the end. I don’t want to suddenly quit just because I got what I needed. My ability growing this much is one thing, but I also gain a lot from working beside you, Kim Geuk...”
Satisfied, I grinned at my ring girl.
Baek Dambi only adjusted her sunglasses and pretended to be calm, but she was obviously embarrassed. Her reddened ears were enough to tell me that.
What a cute bitch.
I was pleased that my round girl would keep hunting by my side and that she had achieved results of her own and found fulfillment in hunting. That kept me in a good mood for the entire drive.
In other words, only until the car stopped.
The moment I got out, I was immediately faced with a serious problem.
A woman approached us and spoke to me with an anxious expression.
“Excuse me, you’re Hunter Kim Geuk, right?”
“I’m Hunter Kim Geuk. Long live Incheon. Are you a local resident?”
“Yes, but...”
“Do you have some business with me? If so, go ahead and tell me!”
I spoke as kindly as I could, and the woman who had been fidgeting seemed to finally gather her courage. She opened her mouth.
“I have a favor to ask...!”
I told her to explain. The woman began rambling, but the main point was this.
“So your daughter went missing around here?”
“Yes...!”
“And you want us to find her?”
The woman nodded frantically.
Seong Munyeong spoke with an expression that did not hide his annoyance.
“Why are you telling us instead of the police? Do we look like people who handle that kind of thing?”
That sharp reaction was not because Seong Munyeong was a complete asshole.
Quite a few people mistook Hunters for civil servants and bothered them with all kinds of demands. Hunters often went beyond getting annoyed and cursed at them. Seong Munyeong was being fairly polite by comparison.
The woman looked intimidated by that much irritation, but she still said what she had to say.
“I went to the police, but they wouldn’t look for her! They told me to check properly whether she had just gone somewhere to play. I told them I had already checked everything, but they said there was no way to find a missing person in this day and age and sent me away...!”
Seong Munyeong cut her off with a shout.
“Of course they can’t find her! How are they supposed to know whether she ran away or a Deathclaw took her? What if they enter a dangerous area looking for someone and disappear too?”
He was not getting angry for no reason either.
These days, police officers did not go out searching even when they received missing-person reports. There was almost no chance of finding a missing person even if they searched, and there was too great a chance that the officers sent to find them would become victims themselves.
There was no reason Hunters should do what even the police did not do. Hunters were not police officers. Hunters were just private citizens.
But the Duke of Incheon had a reason to do it.
When I held out my palm, Seong Munyeong was about to continue speaking, then shut his mouth.
I asked the woman, “You have a picture of your daughter, right? Let me see it.”
“What? Yes, here!”
The woman hurriedly flipped open her flip phone and showed me a picture of a seven-year-old girl. I committed the picture to memory, then made her a promise.
“I’ll look for her as much as I can while we hunt.”
“Really?”
“I can’t promise that I’ll definitely find her, but I’ll at least make an effort.”
We headed toward the planned operation site after passing the woman, who repeatedly thanked us and bowed her head.
As we walked, Seong Munyeong grumbled.
“Why did you make that promise?”
“Don’t get mad. I’m not going to make you look for her.”
“Then you’re going to search alone? With your mental net?”
“That’s what I’m planning.”
“Doesn’t searching with your mental net tire you out too? You always say you’re tired and take a break whenever you use it to find Monsters.”
“So what? Are you asking whether it’ll interfere with my work?”
“No. You’re already working hard and risking your life. Is there any reason you need to work even harder? The police should be dragged out and forced to search even if they don’t want to. Why do you have to do it yourself...”
He seemed to be worrying about me in his own way, so it was awkward to lecture him. I patted his back, then stopped once we reached our destination.
Escorted by everyone, I closed my eyes and focused.
My mental net spread out in a three-kilometer radius, delivering information about everything within its range to my brain.
The hunt had begun. And as an extra, so had the search.
Footnotes:
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